Procedures and Parents Handbook
Procedures
Reporting Absence
If your child is unwell and unable to attend school please can you inform us by calling the school office by 9:00am and give the child’s name, class and reason for absence.
We have an answerphone system for when the school office is closed and it is checked regularly during the day.
If a child is not in school and no message has been received, the office will call you to check on your child’s absence. This is an important part of our safeguarding procedures and applies to all absences.
Parent handbook
For the latest Parent Handbook that contains all you need to know about Queen Eleanor's, click on the attachment at the bottom of this page.
Travelling to school
Queen Eleanor’s Road and the roads around our school become very busy around school drop-off and pick-up times. We encourage children to walk or cycle to school with parents when appropriate. We do have some spaces for bicycles and scooters and encourage children to use these with parental permission, but cannot accept responsibility for them on school premises. Road safety and traffic awareness are taught throughout the school, starting with pedestrian training in Year 3 and moving onto cycle training in Years 5 and 6.
Dropping your children at school
In the morning, the roads outside Queen Eleanor’s are very congested and we encourage parents to park in an appropriate and safe manner.
Your child is allowed on site from 8.30am and we respectfully ask you not to drop your child at school any earlier as the staff are not officially on duty until then.
The children are allowed onto the site from 8.30am. Children in Year 3 & 4 enter the school via the hall side gate through the staff car park. Children in Year 5 & 6 enter the school via the gym side pedestrian gate. They go straight to their classroom to get ready for their day.
There are two teachers on the entrances to the school and they shut and lock the gates at 8:45 am. Any child arriving after the gate is closed must make their way into school via the main entrance so their attendance can be recorded by the office staff.
If you know you are going to be late or if your child is not going to attend school, please contact the school office and inform a member of the office staff. We have an answer machine so you can leave a message, telling us the name and class of your child and the reason why they will not be attending school on that morning and/or day.
Collecting your children from school
At 3.10pm the gates on the hall and gym side of the school are opened by a member of the Leadership Team. You will then be able to walk up onto the playground to collect your child if they are in Year 3 or 4 or collect them from the pedestrian gate if they are in Year 5 & 6. Each class will leave through their external door onto the playground or via the pedestrian gate.
The front entrance is not used by any of the children to leave the building at the end of the school day.
This procedure allows you to collect your child from the playground or pedestrian gate and will also allow you to catch the class teachers at the end of the day.
If you would like to give permission for your child to walk home alone, please email the office (office@queen-eleanors.surrey.sch.uk).
School day timetable
The school day begins at 8.45am with registration.
The children then have either collective worship, singing or Thoughtful Time between 9.00am and 9.25am.
Morning lessons run from 9.25am until lunchtime begins at 12.10pm.
There is a 15 minute break time at 10.25am.
The afternoon session begins at 1.10pm with school finishing at 3.15pm.
In total, the children will be in school for 32.5 hours per week.
Leave of Absence in Exceptional Circumstances
Queen Eleanor’s School, along with other local schools and Surrey County Council, firmly believe that all pupils benefit from regular school attendance. Full and regular attendance at school is crucial for a child’s future life chances and establishes a positive work ethic early in life. To this end, we will do all we can to encourage parents and carers to ensure their children achieve maximum possible attendance and that any problems that prevent full attendance are identified and acted on promptly.
Pupils will be expected to achieve 100% attendance but when absence is unavoidable, parents and carers are required to inform the school at the earliest opportunity.
Research has shown that, for all students, regular attendance at school is the key to an individual’s social, emotional and educational progress and attainment. At QE, we will insist that parents and carers ensure that their children achieve maximum possible attendance and that any problems that prevent this are identified and acted on promptly.
Full attendance secures for each child their entitlement to be safe, to enjoy their education and to achieve their potential, to be healthy, to participate fully in their community and to achieve long term economic well-being.
We realise there may be occasions where you have to take your children out of school for a variety of reasons. If you know this in advance, please complete a leave of absence form and return it to the office for authorisation by the Headteacher.
The form can be downloaded from the link below.
Leave of Absence in Exceptional Circumstances Application Form
PLEASE NOTE, THE SCHOOL WILL NOT AUTHORISE ANY ABSENCE DUE TO FAMILY HOLIDAYS OR EVENTS.
Administering Medicines in School
The administration of medicine is the responsibility of parents/carers and as such should normally be administered at home and only taken into school when absolutely necessary (where it would be detrimental to the child’s health if the medicine were not taken during the school day). School staff have a professional and legal duty to safeguard the health and safety of pupils. They wish to do all they can to enable children to gain the maximum benefit from their education and to participate as fully as possible in school life. Children have a right to be educated and should not be excluded purely as a result of requiring medication.
At QE, we follow Surrey County Council guidelines on administering medicines. Our policy can be viewed by clicking the link below.
In order for us to administer any medication at all a completed Pupil Medication Request Form must be received by the office prior to medication being administered to the child.
A copy of that form can also be downloaded by clicking the link below.
Administering of Medicines Policy
Illness and Emergencies
The school office is responsible for the administering of First Aid to the children. If children are not well during the day, they will be taken to the Office and if necessary, parents will be contacted. All parents are asked to ensure that the school has an up to date contact number for use in such emergencies. If your child has been sent to the office because they have banged their head, a slip is sent home with them to inform you. We may also contact you to make you aware of any other minor injuries your child may receive at school.
Children who suffer sickness or diarrhoea should be kept off school for 48 hours from the last incidence in order to avoid spreading any infection.
We also ask parents to inform the school of any infectious illnesses, so that we can inform and protect any child or member of staff who could be particularly at risk from them.
EMERGENCY SNOW CLOSURE – PROCEDURE
We try our hardest to keep the school open in the event of snow. However, there are occasions when we have to close (access is dangerous or not enough staff are able to reach the school). On these occasions, the following steps are taken to notify parents of the school closure:
A message will appear on the school website
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A ParentPay email message will be sent out to all parents registered
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All school closures are listed on the Surrey County Council website (www.surreycc.gov.uk)
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We will also endeavour to put a message on the school answerphone.
If you do not have access to a computer or to ParentPay, we ask that you speak to other parents at the school who will be able to advise you of the latest situation. Any decision to close the school will be made, if possible, by 8am. However, please continue to check the website as weather conditions can deteriorate very quickly and could force us to close the school later than this time.
If we need to close the school once the school day has begun, the same procedures above will apply, but we would please request that you telephone the school to confirm pick up arrangements for your child.
Swimming
Although we are very lucky to have an outdoor swimming pool, we also use Surrey Sports Park to teach Year 5 and 6 to swim to ensure as many children as possible can swim the 25m requirement at the end of Year 6.